Taunton siblings held on sex trafficking charges

TAUNTON — A Taunton brother and sister have been accused of holding a mentally disabled woman against her will, drugging her and arranging for her to have sex for a fee.

They were arraigned Thursday morning in Taunton District Court.

Peterson Raymond, 28, and Johanne N. Raymond, both of 3 First St., were picked up separately Wednesday night and Thursday morning on warrants at their Weir Village apartment.

The Raymonds are charged with a count each of trafficking a person for sexual servitude, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping and threatening to commit a crime.

Peterson Raymond is also charged with a single count of assault and battery.

This is the first case in Bristol County of an individual having been arrested and arraigned on the sexual servitude trafficking charge, according to Taunton Police Chief Edward Walsh.

That state statue, which carries a prison sentence of five to 20 years, was enacted in 2011. A person convicted of trafficking a minor for sexual servitude can be sentenced to life in prison.

Walsh said Taunton police were notified earlier this week by a hospital — he declined to identify the hospital other than to say it was not Taunton’s Morton Hospital — that they were treating a woman who said she’d been victimized.

Walsh said police have evidence the Raymonds met the woman after she posted information about herself on the Internet.

He alleged they kept her in their apartment against her will and possibly drugged her when they ferried her to appointments, where she provided sex for a fee.

Walsh said the brother and sister utilized certain websites to post photos of the woman and advertise her to men willing to pay money for sex.

The woman, he said, is in her 20s and was living on her own when she met up with the Raymonds. He said police at some point were notified that she was missing, but he was unable to provide specifics.

The chief said the investigation is ongoing and that the two might face additional charges. He also said there’s the possibility the couple took advantage of at least one other female victim.

Peterson Raymond is being held on $50,000 bail. The alleged offenses in his case were committed on Jan. 26

Johanne N. Raymond was ordered held on $10,000 bail. She’s alleged to have committed her offenses against the woman on Jan. 21.

Walsh said it wasn’t until this week that the victim somehow managed to make it to a hospital for treatment and ask for help.

“She was pretty beat up,” he said.

In the event of posting bail, Peterson Raymond, according to court documents, will have to surrender his Haitian passport.